Spanish seafood restaurant Maresco to open in Soho

Lironi, who is behind well-regarded Stoke Newington restaurant Escocesa and tapas venue Bar Esteban in Crouch End, will open Maresco ‘soon-ish’ on Soho’s Berwick Street on the site that was formerly home to loose tea leaf brand Yumchaa.

The restaurant’s name is a conjugation of two Spanish words - ‘mar’, meaning sea, and ‘esco’ (short for escocia), which is Scotland. 

To this end, Maresco will focus on Scottish seafood ‘hi-jacked before it reaches Spain’ cooked in a Spanish style served alongside British and Spanish produce.

It will also serve a list of low intervention wines and sherries and a good range of cocktails and gin and tonics.

Lironi, a former record producer, entered the world of hospitality in 2013 with Escocea having been inspired by a piece in the Guardian describing how all the best Scottish seafood is imported to Spain. He opened Bar Esteban a few years later with former Barrafina and Moro chef Pablo Rodriguez heading up the kitchen and Naroa Ortega, whose CV includes time at the world-renowned Asador Etxebarri, running front of house.